Page 48 of Nights at Seaside
Marcus laid his hand gently in Sawyer’s, as if he expected Sawyer to kiss it. Without missing a beat, Sawyer did.
“Oh, sugar. Heisa keeper,” Marcus said to Sky, then to Sawyer, “I’m Maxine. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too, Maxine.” Sawyer glanced up at the bright yellow paint and the intricately painted sign above. “This looks great, Sky. Did you just do this?”
“Yeah. I’ve been working on it all afternoon.”
“I’ll let you kids have your fun,” Marcus said. “Sky, baby, come by if you can to see my show later, and bring your hunka hunka burnin’ love with you.” He winked at Sawyer and sashayed into the crowd.
“Sorry,” Sky said as she picked up a paint can.
Sawyer took the can from her. “Why? She was nice. Where’s her show?”
“The Crown and Anchor. He…she’s there all summer. Marcus by day, Maxine by night.” Sky and Sawyer gathered the painting supplies.
“I can’t get over that sign,” Sawyer said as he gazed up at it again. “It looks like a decal it’s so perfectly painted. So you paint as well as tattoo?”
“I mess around, like you and your songs. The paintings in the shop are mine, too.”
He picked up the ladder and followed her inside with an armful of supplies, pausing in the reception area to look over the paintings. “Sky, you’re incredibly talented. You should sell your artwork.”
She set the paintbrushes in the sink and put her drop cloth over a chair. “And you should sell your songs.” She gave him a quick kiss when he smirked. “Besides, I do sell my artwork. I just etch it in people’s skin.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and gazed up at him. “Maybe we should sell your songs alongside my artwork here at the store. Everyone self-publishes these days. We could make a little book of them and sell it.”
“You have a lot of faith after hearing only one of my songs. How do you know the rest don’t suck?” He smiled down at her, his eyes as warm as his embrace.
“Because nothing that comes out of your mouth sucks, so I’m sure your songs are all wonderful.”
He lowered his lips to hers. “You never fail to surprise me, Sky.”
“I could say the same about you. Let me clean the paintbrushes, and then we can head out before another customer comes in. How was your afternoon? Did everything go okay with the ramp guys?”
“It went great. They’re starting on the installation in a few days. It’ll be nice for my dad to be able to go up to the skycap again.”
“I bet. He must be excited about the renovations you’re doing.”
“I think he is.”
“Before I forget, I talked to Pete this morning. He thinks it’s fine if we borrow his boat for a night. I was thinking about one night next weekend. Does that sound okay?”
He gathered her in close and kissed her. “Okay? It sounds amazing. I’ll let Roach know I need two days off.”
“He’ll hate me.”
“No, he’ll just bust my butt harder the other days.”
They spent the next few hours walking through the shops in Provincetown and enjoying the warm summer evening.
They had just rounded the corner of Commercial Street and Standish when Sawyer pointed in the window of Recovering Hearts, the local bookstore, and said, “Sky, how about here?”
Recovering Hearts was a cedar cottage-style shop with purple trim and a bright red awning over the front door. There were rainbow flags, colorful stained-glass hearts, and peace signs hanging in the front windows.
“I love that store, but I haven’t had a chance to go in since I bought my shop.”
Sawyer pointed to a sign in the window and said, “This made me think it’s a shop you might like.” The sign read, GIFTS FROM THE HEART. GIFTS FOR THE HEART. “And those sold me on going in.” He pointed to the back of the store, where dozens of different types of wind chimes—glass, ceramic, metal—hung from the ceiling.
“I think I’m in heaven.” She pulled him into the eclectic store and was immediately enveloped by warm scents she couldn’t name. Sky hadn’t been in the shop since the beginning of the summer, and they’d added new items, like patchwork bags and hoodies, books, and wooden plaques with cute sayings about life and love.
“I want to work my way from the front of the store to the back so I don’t miss anything,” Sky said as she looked over a display of candles.
